All Forum Posts by: Gary Parker

@Lync Jones sub2 means subject to the existing mortgage. Ill give you an example of a purchase I made last September. The property was older but had new roof, new HVAC and an updated electrical system. The house was worth $140 as is and $160 with 8K in updates. There was a mortgage of $96K on the house and the seller HAD to walk with 10K. It was too skinny to do a rehab for me; however, the payment including escrow is $726 and the rent is $1295. So I bought the house for $106K plus some closing costs. The seller let me keep the mortgage and $726 payment and I paid $10k in cash. Keeping the mortgage is buying subject to the mortgage.

Having said all of that, in my opinion, one must be very careful with sub2 deals. I will only buy with equity, houses in good shape, no adjustable rates and i intend to keep the property. I want to have the equity so I have a higher chance of selling if necessary.

There are varied opinions on BP about sub2 and I would read them all if this type of investing interests you. Jeff Brown wrote a great blog about a year ago or so about this subject.

That made me smile. I remember when I started I went to visit the clerks as Mr. Harmon suggested. I always got the clerk that was never happy and didn't want to help. Let them know how happy you are they helped you. Smile, tell them thanks and how much you appreciate it. The thing is, they have a lot of power. I use to let the attorney or someone else go ahead of me and just stand there and smile. The clerks are usually friends with the attorneys that are there all the time.

@Gerald Smith each area is different. Start with the court where the probate is filed and ask a lot of questions.

@Anthony Bell there has been a ton written on BP specific to what you are doing. Use the search feature in the upper right hand of the page. Also, search for @Jerry Puckett and @Michael Quarles . These guys are the experts.

@Sharon Vornholt yes I have purchased properties from the list. There are more USLL leads than probate, but I do purchase more from probate than USLL.

I liked @Jesse Hyder suggestion of living in the multi unit. Brandon Turner really advocates this idea as well. I'm an old guy; you guys are young. The sacrifices taken now will be SO worth it some day. Just thinking out loud, get a decent multi unit and live in it for a few years to save some cash. During that time learn how to find and buy properties sub2 so minimal cash is needed except for an emergency fund. You also could move one more time form the multi unit to a modest home that would rent well in the future then get that dream home.

Welcome @Josiah Halverson. I enjoyed all of Gary Keller's books. I'm starting a rehab in Sandy soon; maybe we can meet there sometime & you can look around.

@Sharon Vornholt many call the list that US Lead List sells the "inheritance list". The US LL list is comprised of properties that do involve the death of the owner(s); although, many of the names on the list are surviving spouses. One thing I do know is that in my area there are very few duplicate names between US Lead List and Probate. I mail to probate and the "inheritance" list from US Lead list. Many properties from the US Lead List list have never been through probate. I purchased two last year from the US Lead List list that had to be probated prior to my purchase. I have tried to determine how US Lead List puts together their list with little success. Possibly because I just have not invested the time to figure it out. Some have suggested that it is a list of properties the are or have been held in a trust. While this can be the case, most of the properties on the list are not owned by a trust.

Can you tell us more? Who are you mailing to? What are you mailing them? How often are you mailing to them?

Although there are some minor amount of duplicates between US Lead List and probates, each list is different from my experience. Both lists can be a good source of leads; but as always, consistent mailing over a long period of time and quality of letters and post cards are important. Check out @Sharon Vornholt 's blog for great info on probate marketing.